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The country’s largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki has plans to export its newly launched Ertiga which it showcased at the 2012 Auto Expo to the Indonesian market sometime soon. The Ertiga was the company’s first step into the MUV/MPV segment and it is also powered by the all new 1.4 litre K series petrol engines and the Fiat sourced 1.3 litre diesel engines. The gasoline variant of the Ertiga alone will be exported to the Indonesian market. The company already exports its existing products, the Alto, A-Star and Ritz to overseas markets. In December 2011, Maruti Suzuki exported in total about 14,686 units which stood at an increase of 50% compared to 9756 units sold in December 2010.
The Ertiga was first showcased by the company at the 2012 Auto Expo and received a lot of positive feedback from the visitors and customers alike. The Ertiga is a 7 seater vehicle developed by Maruti Suzuki and will directly go into competition with the Toyota Innova and the Mahindra Xylo. Toyota till date has ruled this MPV segment with total monopoly. The Ertiga is expected to go on sale in March 2012 and the vehicle is based on the extended Swift platform. The all new 1.4 litre K series petrol engine provides 93.87 BHP of power at 6000 RPM and 13.25 kgm of peak torque at 4000 RPM. On the other hand, the 1.3 litre diesel DDiS engine provides 89 BHP of power.
The petrol motor has an ARAI certified fuel efficiency figure of 16.02 kmpl and is expected to be priced between Rs. 7 to 9 lakhs. With the MPV markets definitely seeing positive light, the company will be lapping up some market share in this segment. it will also be offering some serious competition to the already established Toyota Innova. Now it needs to be seen how much appeal does it provide to the Indian customers.
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